Monsters of Men
by Shadsie
Summary: Batreaux knew a saying: That it was easier to make monsters of men than men of monsters. As he begins to understand humanity just a little more with each piece of gratitude that is given to him, he worries about the boy helping him. There is an increasing hardness in the young man's eyes. Kukiel wondered why Uncle Bats wanted to become human, anyway.


_**Disclaimer and Notes:**__ The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and its characters belong to Nintendo. I'm just a silly fan who types up stuff for fun, not for profit. I decided to try creating this because I saw next to nothing centering on Batreaux and I like the character. Replaying Skyward Sword reminded me that I hadn't done any Batreaux-centered fic and that needed to be rectified._

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**MONSTERS OF MEN**

**A Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword fan fiction by Shadsie**

It has long been said among monster-kind that it is much easier to make monsters of men than men of monsters. Batreaux of Skyloft worried that it was true. Even as he had begun to understand the depth of positive human feelings – love, happiness and _gratitude_, he was seeing changes in the eyes of that boy who was helping him.

Those eyes had a kindness to them when he'd first met the lad, even though Link had raised a sword to him. That incident was perfectly understandable. Batreaux was used to similar reactions from human beings, and he'd had a small child in his keeping. Humans were very fierce about protecting their young. The old demon knew that the young knight was not Kukiel's father, but it was all the same. Humans had a sense of community that led them to protect offspring not their own. This was different from most animals that Batreaux had known in his long life, and certainly different behavior than that of demons and monsters. In fact, monsters that were not pure magic-spawn and were capable of producing babies or larvae ate them as often as not if they stayed too close after infancy.

Link was a person concerned with justice, one who could not help but help others – that much Batreaux had seen and that much he'd taken advantage of. The young man had lowered his sword quickly once he'd understood what was going on. Batreaux had flinched, terrified of being hurt and Kukiel had screamed for him to stop. The little girl knew the knight as a neighbor, a friend, and, as it turned out, someone who'd escorted her home after she'd gotten lost playing hide-n-seek more than once. It was she who had convinced Link to let her stay the night at his humble home, in the end. She made very sure to let Link know that she was in no danger. Link, for his part, was unsure if he could shepherd rambunctious little Kukiel over the gangplank that lead to the little shack. Batreaux had flown with her there. The boy had also sustained a pair of keese bites and a rather nasty scratch from one of the local remlits, showing the dangers of the night on his very body.

Batreaux had apologized for that, earning a puzzled look from the kid.

Ever since the night of their meeting, Link had been bringing Batreaux the desired gratitude crystals that helped him put humanity into his heart. Sometimes he'd take a few days, sometimes a week, and each time, the green-clad knight appeared a little wearier. A few nights, he was outright injured, bearing bandages – sometimes bloody where wounds had soaked through – and bruises. Batreaux wished with all his heart that he could help him, but he knew nothing of human medicine. All he could do in repayment was to give Link some wages for his labor and wallets of various sizes to keep the wages. That way, at least, he could pay healers and buy medicines for himself. Just what Link was doing to get himself so hurt all the time, Batreaux could only guess. He'd never thought that the knights who patrolled the skies on their giant birds had it so rough! By increment, Link's wealth increased, and so did his bruises, it seemed, though the boy appeared to heal quickly. Link's eyes, however, hardened by increment. It was hardly perceptible, but Batreaux saw it.

A demon knew a killer's eyes. A demon knew eyes filled with frustration, anger and despair. It was happening in short-order with Link, and that had Batreaux worried. Link was helping him in his dream, but Batreaux did not want the young man to become a monster simply to make him a man!

He didn't want Link to die in the quest, either. Kukiel told him what Link had been up to, according to how much she knew.

"Oh, he didn't get hurt getting you that crackle," she said. "He's doin' hero-stuff somewhere off the island. No one knows where."

"Heroics?" Batreaux asked, bending down in the grass after looking both ways again to make sure none of the adults of Skyloft were around to try to chase him off with a sword or a stick.

"Zelda's missing. She's his lady," the girl informed. Her manner was matter-of-fact. "They're bestest friends and are gonna get married someday! I think he's been fightin' lotsa monsters trying to find her - really big ones like you, but not good ones like you."

Good ones like him. It was a strange thought. From a monster's point of view, it was a matter of perception. Ever since he was a keeseling, Batreaux had been more inclined to gentleness than to violence. He was what his monstrous kin called a "grayling," that is, one not loyal to Darkness, but one that sought Light. It was a term akin to "fool." He felt like he had been born into the wrong body – one of Hylia's children born to be a child of Demise. Creatures of the Darkness and creatures of the Light were not supposed to mix company.

As violent as monsters were by nature, "kind" creatures of the Light could be cruel, too. His little shack at the bottom of Skyloft was the only place he had to roost, for people were quicker to try to harm him than to hear him out – and those were the brave ones. The rest were merely fearful.

"Why do ya wanna be human so badly, Uncle Bats?" Kukiel asked him.

"Because I want to be good," he replied.

"You're already good! You don't have to be human for that! Loftwing are good, and they aren't human, and they have big wings. If you become a human, you won't have your wings anymore, will you?"

"I don't think I would," Batreaux said, flapping his leather-wings self-consciously.

"So why would you wanna be a boring ol' human?"

"Some things are better than flying!" he answered, stroking his claws, "Like having friends!"

"You gots me. You have Link, too."

Batreaux smiled. Only Kukiel ever smiled back at him. Even Link seemed to be vaguely frightened by his smile. And, of course, the poor fool had taken his cursed medal.

"I want to be friends with everyone."

"It's too bad people are so scared of you. I don't understand. You don't hurt anyone. Maybe if you save more people from fallin' off the edges, like you did with me they'd have to like you!"

"Dear child," Batreaux sighed, "I don't even think that will make me human enough for people not to run."

"Awww… But without your wings, you won't be able to take me flying around anymore…"

Batreaux would never forget little Kukiel's joy the twilight he'd first taken her flying all around the bottom edge of Skyloft. She'd giggled and closed her eyes to feel the wind on her face. She'd squealed as she looked down at the cloud-sea below. He'd held her close to his chest as he skimmed the clouds. They did this sometimes, when Batreaux was sure he wouldn't be caught, though mostly they played in the cemetery or at his house – games like Scream As Loud as You Can… Kukiel wasn't allowed on Loftwings yet. Many children her age had gone for flights with their parents, but according to her, her Daddy was afraid of heights (an unusual condition on Skyloft) and her Mommy worried too much about her short attention span and whether or not she'd listen and hang on tight to the riding-belt. Loftwings were for when she was older – maybe.

Batreaux thought a lot about his motivations for wanting to become a man. Truth be told, it was mostly because of the fears of other people. He'd miss flying and knew that it was probably too late for him to partner with a Loftwing. Many of the feelings he was absorbing through the gratitude crystals were strange to him. It was almost as if he did not need them at all – that they only served to enhance features that were already a part of his heart as an aberrant-monster. Still, they enhanced him. He could feel a growing kinship with the lovely people of Skyloft that he could only observe from hidden places.

In one batch of crystals, he could taste the salty sweetness of tears – the flavor of a mother's relief at the return of her child. Batreaux did not think that he would ever know that feeling first-hand. He did not expect to ever become a parent. Kukiel was more of a best friend to him, for he felt like a child, himself, among a society of humans. There was so much for him to learn.

Another batch tasted of freedom and the sky itself. Batreaux could sense that one of the great birds was involved in this group of crystals. There was a distinctive aftertaste of happiness over the healing of a companion. The Loftwings were the "other half" of the souls of the people who lived here. This was not the case in ancient times.

Batreaux could grasp gratefulness over the safety of someone he cared about. He had no family, but he did have Kukiel and would drown in grief if she was ever lost or in trouble. He supposed if she'd ever gotten herself into a tricky situation that he could not handle, he would send dear Link after her. His determination to find the lost was already proven.

Oh, my… Batreaux could not wrap his head around one large batch of crystals. Love… that trait of humans that came in many flavors and actions… It could be confusing, even painful. Some of Link's emotion had mixed in with the batch. There was a lot of gratitude in the crystals themselves. The whiff of his emotions, however, held remorse. The old demon chose not to ask the boy about it. Something told him that it would be rude.

One batch of the crystals made him sneeze. The fragments of gratitude were covered in dust.

There was one batch that mildly frightened the gentle monster. It was filled with a confidence and strength befitting a hero. The crystals were not Link's own gratitude.

Batreaux clapped for joy at the cluster of gratitude crystals that was filled with pure playfulness. He smiled the rest of the day, spinning and dancing on the floor of his dirty little home.

His heart swelled over a particularly romantic cluster. It was filled with all the awkwardness of youth. Batreaux regretted that he had been born a monster for more reasons than his inability to make friends with creatures of Light. Even if he successfully became human, he knew that he would become an adult human. That is what all the passing keese told him – well, provided that they were not full of lies. He would never get to experience the sweet awkwardness of being a human teenager, nor being in love as one.

Batreaux stifled a chuckle at a big batch that smelled of cornstarch powder. That poor man… so happy to finally get a night's sleep. Yes, he had to remind himself – most of the humans slept during the night and were active during the day, unlike him. The night-patrolling knights were the exception. Even with the lighting-equipment on their birds, they never sighted him, nor did they hear his silent wings in the darkness.

A sticky glob of crystals carried the distinctive taste of pumpkin.

The people shouldn't have been so hard on that poor fortune-teller. Of course he could not foresee the shattering of his ball. Why would they expect it? Batreaux laughed to himself as he held glowing thankfulness in his claws. There were monsters that could prognosticate. They saw select things. They did not always see immediate things and certainly not trivial things that on some level, they knew would be resolved. Funny that they always saw the coming of heroes among Men, yet never foresaw their deaths by the bloodstained hands of those heroes.

One grouping of gratitude crystals was colossal. It had a sweet taste – the thanks of a man reunited with a beloved pet. It was a different flavor than the one batch gleaned from the happiness of a woman and her Loftwing.

A final big batch was full of happiness over the gaining of knowledge and the increase of wisdom. It tasted the same way the forest smelled – as much as Batreaux remembered forests.

Stray crystals had a variety of flavors. They were filled with the love and thankfulness the residents of Skyloft had for one another.

With each collection of crystals came a weary and battered Link. Batreaux shivered at his hard, hard gaze and asked him if he was alright. Link replied by telling the noble demon that he was already more human than he thought and more "human" than some humans he knew, because he cared enough to spare concern. Link said that many people were worried about him, of late, but that he knew a couple of Academy students who were still in the business of insulting him and wishing him ill.

Kukiel laughed at Batreaux's transformation. It wasn't a mocking laugh, just a laugh of joy and the fact that in her childhood honesty, she found him "funny looking." As soon as he was able to get to a mirror, he was joyous. He was perfectly human!

Oh, some folks in the Bazaar gave him strange looks. Many asked him what island he was from, since he was a new face. Oh, the lights! The energy! People were not running! His hands were hands of skin, flesh and fingernails – not claws. His horns had become hair. Most horns on beasts were made of the same substance, anyway, so that transformation made sense. Someone he'd talked with by the fortune teller gave him a business card for a dentist – whatever a "dentist" was.

Skyloft was at peace by night. The keese no longer passed by. The blobs dribbled down through the soil, leaving its surface alone. The remlits were no longer possessed by a sense of anger.

A monster had been made into a man.

Kukiel missed his "flappy bat-wings." He assured her that one day, she would be able to call her own Loftwing, if she so wished.

Link was gone from Skyloft for a long time. Everyone worried. He returned; scraped and torn in a dirty tunic with his hair looking like it had been burnt at the edges. At his side was a lovely maiden, who likewise looked like she'd been through an adventure. When he met Batreaux and presented his friend to him, he smiled. The smile tugged at the edges of his eyes. They were not hard anymore.

It was said that it was easier to make monsters of men than men of monsters. Some men had the resolve to keep their humanity after they'd been through what should have transformed them. Some monsters found transformation easier than they'd ever expected.

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**END. **


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